Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, November 06, 2014

Pro-Democracy Protesters Clash With Hong Kong Police

HONG KONG (AP) — Pro-democracy protesters clashed with police in Hong Kong early Thursday for the first time in more than two weeks as pressure grows on demonstrators to abandon more than a month and a half of street occupations.

The skirmishes lasted for about four hours in the bustling Mong Kok neighborhood, the most turbulent of three protest sites that have snarled swaths of the city.

Police said they attempted to arrest a man who was shining his cellphone light into officers' eyes, and demonstrators responded by surging at police lines. The two sides ended up in a tense standoff, with several protesters taunting police.

At about 2:30 a.m., protesters charged again at police lines and flooded into a street. Officers responded with pepper spray and pushed the crowd back into their camp.

Police said they arrested three people in the confrontations, which left at least one protester bleeding from the head.

Several demonstrators arrived in Mong Kok wearing masks with the grinning likeness of Guy Fawkes, a co-conspirator in a plot to blow up the English Parliament building in 1605. Young protesters worldwide have taken up wearing the mask at demonstrations since it was featured in the 2006 film "V for Vendetta."

Thousands of people remain camped out on Hong Kong's streets demanding open nominations in elections for the city's leader. The protests erupted in late September after Beijing ruled that a China-friendly committee would screen the candidates.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com/
Author: AP

No comments:

Post a Comment